


The Guttering Candlelight of a Tired Soul

by 3HobbitsInATrenchcoat



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Episode: s02e11 Not What He Seems, Hurt No Comfort, Stan Pines Dies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:15:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25892728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/3HobbitsInATrenchcoat/pseuds/3HobbitsInATrenchcoat
Summary: Stanley Pines has sacrificed much to bring his brother back. His sleep, his health, his bodily comfort all given over in a trade to see his brother's face again.He barely makes it in time.
Comments: 23
Kudos: 119





	The Guttering Candlelight of a Tired Soul

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in 20 minutes because I was _Possessed By the Spirit of ANGST_ I guess.
> 
> Also I don't know medical stuff for shit, please just suspend disbelief.

“Come ON you stupid body,” pants Stan, pausing to lean on a tree just outside of the radius of the shack clearing. He can feel his heart fluttering and his vision is going gray and staticy on the edges. His doc had definitely said something about taking it slow this year but... there's too much riding on this. He pushes off the tree and sprints past the turned backs of the the FBI, ignoring the way his chest burns and his heart does sickening flips.

He slams through the vending machine, tugging the door shut behind him. It's a fucking miracle he doesn't fall as he takes the stairs two at a time, trying to reach the portal room before its too late. Too late to see his brother, too late for what he knows in his bones is the reaching hand of the reaper hot on his heels.

Living off of coffee and no sleep at his age? He's honestly surprised it hasn't happened before now.

His heart and breathing both _stutter_ as he skids into the room and sees the kids. No, NO, they can't be here, it's too dangerous and... the whole world tilts a little and Stan is honestly not sure if it's another gravity surge or his own failing shell. He stumbles forward, but the kids are looking at him in fear.

Sorrow rears up in the back of his mind but he's also grateful they are concentrating on something else other than the growing slur in his voice and the shake of his steps. He swallows hard and hears himself begging as if from another room, lips and thoughts desynced and hollow. Another wave of force pushes out of the portal and Stan slams backward into the wall.

He feels his heart _freeze_ and manages to cough hard enough to prevent the inevitable just a little longer. _Just long enough,_ he thinks, screaming for Mabel to trust him.

And she does. The room whites out and Stan feels peace wash over him. He can't help the breathless, helpless laughter that punches through him even as the static threatens to overtake his vision, even as he drops to the ground like a rag-doll and struggles to stand.

He manages to hold himself upright but wavering long enough for Ford to step out of the wreckage of the portal. Long enough to take one step forward and say “He's the author of the journals...” The world tilts and he pitches forward with a pained grunt, landing hard on his aching chest. He feels something crack but can't bring himself to care. He won't be using it much longer anyway.

He coughs again, but his heart's fluttering has slowed to a crawl and... he tries to lift himself up but collapses, only managing to roll to face the one person he hoped he had not lost forever.

He hears someone scream, loud and piercing, but he can't bring himself to look away from Stanford, standing frozen with one hand outstretched by the portal. Whole, hale, alive again at last. “My brother,” he sighs out, a soft smile breaking across his face as his eyes drift closed.

He could rest now, he had done his part in bringing such a bright mind back into the world.

Too far gone to hear their cries, Stanley Pines passes out of this world, surrounded by his family at last.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Please don't murder me for writing this. Thanks for reading!
> 
> [Now with ART by the lovely Sealbatross!](https://sealbatross.tumblr.com/post/629651250705793025/inspired-by-the-fic-the-guttering-candlelight-of-a)


End file.
